आज खेलो, कल तो बड़ा बनना ही हैं |

Born exactly 1 year and 1 day apart (though Anjali seems to dispute), it is amazing how quickly they have grown up ! God bless you kids, many happy returns of your b'days. We love you !

Dads are cool

With the changing social landscape where nuclear families are increasingly becoming common and families are spread far apart sometimes globally with siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents coming together at the most once in an year or sometimes few years either for a family event or some kind of family get together, the role of dad in children's lives has changed drastically from a bread winner and a disciplinarian to a more approachable parent, sometimes more than Mom. Dads always have a special place in children's hearts as one of their childhood's earliest role models. Back when husbands were sole bread earners and jobs were more physical, Moms stayed home looking after their children's needs. Even now one cannot discount a child's almost entire dependence on Mom during first couple of years, Dads are sharing lot of household chores nowadays with some Dads giving up their careers too to become "stay at home" dads. I sometimes think how impossible it is stay away from kitchen (sorry Grandma ;-) and not participate in household chores + help kids do their homework and other activities. Happy Father's Day!

స్వదేశ గమనం

Hoping to have a fantastic time with family, friends and relatives...

Bricks and Mortar

Read a news story today about the shortage of civil engineers in India and felt nostalgic about my construction engineering background. It seems that India is in dire need of at least 70,000 civil engineers an year against a supply of 10,000 odd. Most of the private engineering colleges have stopped offering and it is a pity that most of those who graduate drop out and join the lucrative IT sector. Though the entry barriers to join professional courses like engineering and medicine are almost none nowadays, it hurts to note that there are not many takers. Who will take up construction engineering and struggle with the low paying and gut wrenching jobs?

India's future lies in nation building with a chance to grow at 10% just by building more roads, ports and airports - creating employment for millions of people non-stop for the next 20 years at least. Who is going to lead India in this direction? - with a heavy heart from my air conditioned office overlooking mega construction projects (a casino and 3 high rise office towers) out here in Marina Bay, Singapore - I salute to the spirit of the great builders of modern India like E.Sreedharan.